The Expedition 5 crew had a busy and successful week aboard the International Space Station, completing the activation and checkout of the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG), beginning the first experiment in that glovebox, and operating the Canadarm2 from the Mobile Base System (MBS) for the first time.

On Wednesday, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson commanded the Canadian-built robotic arm to "walk off" its grapple fixture on the Destiny laboratory and grapple a power and data fixture on the Mobile Base System on the S0 truss. The walk-off was the first time the Canadarm2 has been detached from Destiny since it was installed in April 2001. Korzun and Whitson also completed a dry run of the S1 truss installation. The S1 will be brought to the station during STS-112. On Friday, the duo maneuvered the Canadarm2 onto several other MBS grapple fixtures to give engineers on the ground the data they need to prepare for the installation of both the S1 and P1 trusses.

During the week, Korzun and Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev also continued to unload the Progress 8 resupply craft and enter supplies it brought to the station into the Inventory Management System. Korzun and Treschev also spent time doing periodic maintenance activities and installing cargo enclosures in Zarya.

When not working with the Canadarm2, Whitson activated and checked out systems in the MSG and completed the first runs of the Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules experiment in that new facility. Processing in the Zeolite Crystal Growth furnace concluded Friday after 15 days of operations and a new science payload, the Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System experiment, will begin next week.

The crew congratulated the designer of the station's Zvezda service module today, the second anniversary of its launch.